Post subject: Re: Vote for Derek and Mindy for the Cover of Ironman Magazi

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2012 1:40 pm

Site Admin

Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pmPosts: 6064Location: England

carrot topless wrote:

BB.com only care about selling supplements, so I am of two minds about voting a vegan into a position where they are forced to promote whatever supplement the site is pushing. As exceptional as both of them seem to be, their contribution to the vegan movement will be enforcing the idea that for a vegan to be healthy they must be supplement junkies.

Where have you read that they would have to promote supplements? I couldn't find that anywhere. Also, as far as I know, the winners would be interviewed, so their own nutrition program would most likely be described, and they can say what supplements they take - if any.

Post subject: Re: Vote for Derek and Mindy for the Cover of Ironman Magazi

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2012 5:49 pm

Site Admin

Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:05 pmPosts: 21053Location: Austin, TX

carrot topless wrote:

BB.com only care about selling supplements, so I am of two minds about voting a vegan into a position where they are forced to promote whatever supplement the site is pushing. As exceptional as both of them seem to be, their contribution to the vegan movement will be enforcing the idea that for a vegan to be healthy they must be supplement junkies.

Hi carrot topless,

I appreciate your perspective and I'm glad you're concerned. When you look at BB.com 99% of the supplements they carry are non-vegan and Ironman Magazine isn't exactly the most vegan-friendly either.

But I have a different perspective I'd like to share. I've worked with BB.com since 2008. I've had the opportunity to promote vegan supplements while working with them, vegan books, and even my own personal projects like my brand including clothing. Even their top spokesperson Jamie Eason is a friend of mine and is very interested in becoming vegan, largely because of all of our interactions.

I'm also friends with 2 of the recent winners of this contest and I've been able to work with them and watch them grow their careers.

The winners will have a lot of flexibility to be their own people, with their own ideas. They may represent BB.com but they'll have a way to work from the inside out to create positive change, just like I've been able to do, helping them carry more vegan products, while promoting those products to get them to sell well.

As for Ironman Magazine, without me even knowing, they wrote a really positive review of my book and put it in their magazine, giving it nearly a full page, which was a pleasant surprise. I was told about the feature by someone who read it and I went out and picked up a copy from the shelves. It was very supportive of the Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness lifestyle.

Here are a few examples of working with BB.com and the flexibility they give:

Working at their booth alongside one of the winners of this contest while promoting veganism and vegan products, passing out literature, etc.

They even allow me to wear my own brand along with others wearing their brand, though I usually put on BB.com gear to be consistent with the others in the booth:

And goofing around:

I honestly believe whomever wins, including vegans will get an amazing opportunity to tell their story in the magazine cover feature and for vegan athletes that would include talking about their vegan lifestyles.

Working with BB.com would be an amazing opportunity to create positive change too

I understand that the website is mainly bogus, but what you originally said was that the winners would be forced to promote certain supplements, and that's just not the case. If they have a shred of integrity they'd refuse to do that even if asked, I'm sure. The best thing about winning is just to make the statement that a vegan can make that achievement, and get noticed. Even if all related articles on their site get buried, it would still be a fact to relate to.

Post subject: Re: Vote for Derek and Mindy for the Cover of Ironman Magazi

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 12:25 am

Site Admin

Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:05 pmPosts: 21053Location: Austin, TX

Glad I was able to share some first hand experience.

It's just my perspective. Every perspective and opinion is welcome, of course, and great questions/issues are being addressed.

I don't think they'll be able to tell ahead of time whether people will push supplements. That's not really the goal for BB.com. They already have about 10,000,000 customers and have top athlete representatives. The goal is to reward someone the opportunity to be a spokesperson for the company for a year, giving them some traveling opportunities and letting them be the face for Bodyspace, a section of BB.com for that year.

Basically, they're looking for an everyday person as a role model for others. One of our hopes is that if one of our vegan athletes win, they will get a chance to talk about their vegan lifestyle in the featured article for Ironman Magazine. And like I do on tour with BB.com, they can talk about veganism and promote it at festivals like I have. It is a fun opportunity and BB.com is pretty open. They do carry a lot of vegan products and are happy if more of those move too.

I think Derek and Mindy would be great ambassadors and I'm sure many others who entered would be as well.

It will be fun to see how it all turns out.

I'll be in L.A. during that weekend anyway, so I hope to see some friends/forum members make the finals. That would be fun to see them in action.

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